Try Your Hand at Hypertext Fiction

Fiction writers have long (in Internet terms) been fascinated by the potential of the Internet as a medium for publishing fiction.

In particular, the ease by which it is possible to move from web page to web page via hyperlinks has led some writers to experiment in creating hypertext fiction, where readers can actively explore a story - and find different ways through it - using hyperlinks.

Programming your own hypertext fiction website isn't a task for the faint-hearted. But recently I heard from Jeremy Ashkenas about his Hypertextopia website, which provides a platform that anyone is free to use to try creating their own hypertext fiction (and, indeed, non-fiction).


Writing in Hypertextopia consists of creating so-called fragments and shards, moving them around on the screen, and drawing links between them (see picture above). It's a little like working with mind maps. Once you've written a Hypertextopia work, it can be presented via the site's Grand Library.

It's easier to try Hypertextopia for yourself than it is to explain it, so if you're interested in this concept, click on Hypertextopia and start by exploring some of the works that have already been published. In the case of at least one of them - Playground - you can log in anonymously and try editing the story yourself. This really does blur the distinction between reading and writing!

Hypertextopia is an intriguing project that can open your eyes to the potential of hypertext fiction, even though the quality of work published on the site so far is variable. At times I found the terminology used a little baffling, but the longer you explore and experiment in Hypertextopia, the better you come to understand it. If you're a fiction writer and fascinated by the potential of hypertext fiction, it's definitely worth a look.